Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Holding My Horses

There are a lot of ‘how-to’ books about how to become a writer,
i.e. one who produces regular output of writing with the intention to publish. Whole
chapters dedicated to the disciplinary aspect say to—

Write every day [many
successful writers don’t)

Write until you have
produced X-number of words/pages (Ditto^)

Set a time and don’t
vary nor let anything get it the way (Ditto^)

{I will admit this last one is one I have found to work for
me. I’m a five-days-a week morning writer.}

But what I have not found in any of the mavens' sites or
books is the suggestion to not overdo it.

Of all the things I have
learned about myself, this one has been the most helpful.

So here it is:

No matter how inspired
I feel and how well it’s going on any given day, this is not a horse race. I set
a maximum of pages/word count/time that I will not exceed.

Because there is no reason for a self-caused burnout. I’m in
here for the long haul.

For me, this has meant a personal minimum and a maximum
output. This is not a fixed output, because novels and picture books are
different in this regard, and I write both. But for either, I have come to
understand how important it is for me to hold my fire and my horses.

I intend to write for as long as my life and focus allows. I
hope that will be many more years.

And you know what? Of all the how do I do it, this one is
the hardest, especially at times. But it turned out to be the most helpful. I
doubt I would’ve braved a second, third, or fourth novel without sticking to
not overdoing.

Here's to a productive lifetime. Understanding how you work, and finding what works for you.

12 comments:

Oh, what a wonderful post. I tend to fail at the first two pieces of advice, too. What I have been good at doing is choosing a piece of work and sticking with it no matter what until it is done. (I'm currently in that mode with my revived WIP). But I also tend to overdo, once I get going. And you are so right: to stay in it for the long haul, you can't burn yourself out.

Interesting. I really liked your closing--"Here's to a productive lifetime. Understanding how you work, and finding what works for you." Because I think each of us is different. For myself, I don't feel the need for the 'don't overdo it' mantra. But then I don't write novels, so maybe I'd feel different if I did. I'm glad you've found what works for you.

Of the people I know, you are one who does not need this advice, indeed. You are a steady and always productive person. I doubt you have many half-done creations in your closet, Ev. I don't anymore, but you should have seen the closets of my younger years...

Knowing and understanding your own process is so important. I didn't think about overdoing it. Ever. I'm always struggling to doing the minimum, lol, and it's so rare to be in that zone, that when it comes, I take it. Now if I could figure out how to get into that zone on command...

Well, I have dozens of half-done creations on file, but for me I like that - there's always something else to work on when my interest in another project wanes. And cheers to another five-mornings-a-week writer!

I'm another one who doesn't have to worry about overdoing it, underdoing it--yes. That's great some of you can write five mornings a week. My schedule is too varied to keep a routine (my excuse anyway). One thing I do usually do is pull out old projects for revision rather than having them go to waste. Great reminder about it not being a horse race, though. Better to enjoy the ride then to rush from one duty to the next.

In a few decades of writing, it never occurred to me to put a maximum amount on my output. If things were going well, I didn't want to stop, unless I had to or suddenly remembered to eat, etc. "Maximum" is a new concept for me. I feel the same way as a fiber artist. If I'm on a roll, I'd rather not quit.

About Me

Born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel, Mirka now writes from her California home. She is the wife of one, the author of two published books, mother of two awesome children, and the human of three free-loading lovable cats.